The nation that tried to ‘deradicalize’ Islamists

By Caleb Stephen

So France thought it smart to try and deradicalize the estimated 8,250 hardcore Islamic fundamentalists within its borders.

And guess what?

It didn’t work so well.

You’d think somebody would’ve been bright enough to realize this, but it turns out you’d be wrong.

Interestingly, in this case, the French government actually admitted to the failings of its “flagship program” in a report released late last month following the conclusion of a parliamentary fact-finding commission on deradicalization, with the initial conclusions calling it a “total failure” and needing to be “completely reconceptualized.”

The preliminary report effectively revealed that the government has zero results to show for its liberal spending of tens of millions of taxpayers’ euros over the past several years to combat Islamic fundamentalism in France, where 238 people have been killed in jihadist attacks since January 2015.

Well, imagine my shock!

It turns out that deradicalization, either in prisons or the centers set up in metropolitan areas specifically for this very purpose, does not work because the great majority of Islamic fundamentalists do not want to be deradicalized!

Out of the figure of 8,250 (which, surely is a very conservative or misrepresented figure), only 17 submitted applications, and just nine arrived. Not a single resident in any of these purpose-built centers or prisons has completed the full 10-month curriculum.

That’s right, the French government spent tens of millions in taxpayer’s funds to combat Islamic terrorism through a deradicalization program only to have the bloodshed and violence continue.

Sen. Phillippe Bas, who headed the Senate committee that commissioned the report, had this to say: “The deradicalization program is a total fiasco. Everything must be rethought; everything must be redesigned from scratch.”

As Sen. Esther Benbassa said: “Deradicalizing someone does not happen in six months. These people, who have not been given an ideal and who have clung to Islamic State’s ideology, are not going to get rid of it just like that.”

I would go a step further to say that these Islamists are being influenced by core Quranic beliefs – not just exclusive Islamic State ideology – that command them to declare war on the West. It is for this very reason that they are so dedicated to the cause of invading Western countries, undermining our Christian foundations and overthrowing our societies in order to establish the global caliphate for the sake of their Allah. They are so entrenched in their ideology that it would be nigh to impossible to get them to change their minds.

The report also said that by housing Islamists in separate prison wings, they actually had become more violent because they were emboldened by “the group effect,” according to Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas.

This example of France’s failed deradicalization program is even more reason for the United States, Australia, United Kingdom and European countries to place very stringent immigration measures – such as bans – upon Muslims who espouse the core teachings of Islam to the very letter, teachings that include violent and barbarous practices that are foreign to the West’s sense of morality, including wife beating, honor killings, female genital mutilation, beheadings of Christians and the public execution of gay people.

It is abundantly clear that deradicalization attempts will not succeed. The only solution to the problem is to jail these individuals for life, or better yet, prevent them from coming into the country in the first place.

For liberals and social justice warriors to believe that we can allow unregulated (or even small numbers) of Islamists into our country and deal with the consequences later through deradicalization programs is completely and utterly preposterous. Might I also add that dealing with the mess later is no piece of cake. The damage is practically irreversible.

We have to understand the minds of these Islamists. Nothing will possibly shake them (except for an encounter with the true God, perhaps) from carrying out their lofty and “noble” aspirations of gaining 72 virgins in paradise by waging “holy war” against anyone and everyone they deem as not being in conformance with core Islamic teachings.

Not only does this example in France make the dangers of allowing Islamists into the country very clear, it also shows how committed and resilient they are toward the cause of accomplishing Islam’s goal of expanding its kingdom – a goal they will stop at nothing to accomplish.

France is a perfect case in point and one very relevant in light of the recent U.S. immigration row. The rest of the West would do well to learn from France’s failed experiment by implementing stringent measures to prevent the problem from happening in the first place. Failure to learn from France’s mistakes is like playing with dynamite – something which is both very foolish and potentially self-destructive.

Caleb Stephen

Caleb Stephen is a widely published Christian independent journalist, columnist, political activist and the founder and editor-in-chief of TruthJournalism.com. He is also the founder of Pursuit of God Daily and the founder and editor-at-large of Ultimate Survival Gear, Australia's No. 1 emergency preparedness and education website. Additionally, he serves as a staff writer at Australia's leading family advocacy organization FamilyVoice Australia. Visit his website CalebStephen.com and follow him on Twitter @CalebSOfficial. Read more of Caleb Stephen's articles here.


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